|
|
|
|
Life After Cigarettes (weight management after smoking cessation)
|
|
|
Why go indie?
I've come to indie authorship late in my writing career, and although it has its drawbacks compared with conventional publishing (they take care of a lot of the hard stuff for you), there are also things to love about it. In particular, having control over the interval between finishing a manuscript and ordering the paperback or kindle edition on amazon means everything at my age. Everything. As an indie author I am not under contract to produce one book per year, no more, no less, I'm free to keep as many projects afloat as I can keep track of. I am currently working on an edited transcript of an oral history I conducted with my father in 1979, a book of essays, a book of mostly essays, and the golden anniversary re-issue of a study on early autobiographies of women. They will be published as soon as I am satisfied that they meet my own standards and in order of completion. If you'd like to be notified when they are available, please message me through this website.
What's next?
IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME: AN ORAL HISTORY WITH RADAR PIONEER E. KING STODOLA
Over the course of 3 days in October, 1979, I spent several hours interviewing my father, E. King Stodola, a pioneer in radar during and after World War II and Scientific Director of the first successful attempt to bounce radio waves off the moon, code-named Project Diana, in January of 1946. Until recently, I had only transcribed a few key passages, mostly on Project Diana. Now, thanks to the miracle of AI, I have achieved my longstanding dream of obtaining a complete transcript, including reminiscences about his work with Edwin Howard Armstrong, Father of Modern Radio, and am in the process of editing it to make it available to the scientific community.
Over the course of 3 days in October, 1979, I spent several hours interviewing my father, E. King Stodola, a pioneer in radar during and after World War II and Scientific Director of the first successful attempt to bounce radio waves off the moon, code-named Project Diana, in January of 1946. Until recently, I had only transcribed a few key passages, mostly on Project Diana. Now, thanks to the miracle of AI, I have achieved my longstanding dream of obtaining a complete transcript, including reminiscences about his work with Edwin Howard Armstrong, Father of Modern Radio, and am in the process of editing it to make it available to the scientific community.
MY YEAR OF TURNING EIGHTY: COLLECTED ESSAYS
My Year of Turning Eighty is a mashup of a 28-day love letter to the month of February, little epiphanies that capture my current outlook on life, family history narratives that keep me feeling connected to my past, and various other essays in need of being collected. If you've read my pandemic book of essays on Project Diana and my Jersey Shore childhood, you already know what you're getting into here. The narrative essay, often in the form of a memoir, feels just about right to me at this point in my life. It lets me say what I need to say about a broad range of topics--sometimes in just a handful of sentences, sometimes in quite a lot of them--and then keep right on moving. After all, now that I'm eighty, it's time to get to the point if ever I'm going to.
My Year of Turning Eighty is a mashup of a 28-day love letter to the month of February, little epiphanies that capture my current outlook on life, family history narratives that keep me feeling connected to my past, and various other essays in need of being collected. If you've read my pandemic book of essays on Project Diana and my Jersey Shore childhood, you already know what you're getting into here. The narrative essay, often in the form of a memoir, feels just about right to me at this point in my life. It lets me say what I need to say about a broad range of topics--sometimes in just a handful of sentences, sometimes in quite a lot of them--and then keep right on moving. After all, now that I'm eighty, it's time to get to the point if ever I'm going to.
"RESIGNING THE NEEDLE FOR THE PEN"
I'm also working on the Golden Anniversary edition of my 1974 study of early autobiographical writings of British women. The title is derived from a frequently-used metaphor involving the competing claims of a signature women's tool and a more gender-neutral implement of self-expression.
The book started life as my doctoral dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania The topic-was almost completely uncharted territory at the time, and despite its humble beginnings, it eventually developed a bit of a cult following. It has now been downloaded hundreds of times from the Penn Libraries Scholarly Commons.
Fifty years later, through the miracle of indie publishing, I am able to provide the convenience and portability of a paperback version at a modest price. Watch for it later in 2024.
For a sneak peak at the Preface to the new edition, go to my blog entry for January 19, 2023.
I'm also working on the Golden Anniversary edition of my 1974 study of early autobiographical writings of British women. The title is derived from a frequently-used metaphor involving the competing claims of a signature women's tool and a more gender-neutral implement of self-expression.
The book started life as my doctoral dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania The topic-was almost completely uncharted territory at the time, and despite its humble beginnings, it eventually developed a bit of a cult following. It has now been downloaded hundreds of times from the Penn Libraries Scholarly Commons.
Fifty years later, through the miracle of indie publishing, I am able to provide the convenience and portability of a paperback version at a modest price. Watch for it later in 2024.
For a sneak peak at the Preface to the new edition, go to my blog entry for January 19, 2023.
THE KITCHEN DANCE: COOKING WITH MY ANCESTORS
The Kitchen Dance is my term for the beautiful way home cooks working together manage to pirouette harmoniously around each other as they go about their business. No one ever elbows anyone else out of the way unless something is on fire (unlikely but not impossible). Each dancer somehow knows without words being spoken exactly whose task needs to take priority in the moment, and the others graciously and gracefully cede the space or queue up to be next at the sink or the cutting board or the stove.
It occurred to me, in my ongoing pursuit of lively family history narratives, that there might be a way of doing the kitchen dance not just with my sisters and daughters, but at least figuratively with my ancestors. What better way to connect with them than through their food? Whatever our differences in language or culture, we all have to eat and we all like to eat. So I set out--not exactly to create a cookbook, but to learn what I could about what our forebears ate, what ingredients were available to them, and what tools they used to transform those ingredients into dinner.
The culinary traditions covered are American, French-Canadian, English, Pennsylvania Dutch, and Jewish, weaving together the major strands of my own ancestry. Intended as a gift to family and friends, the booklet will be privately printed and spiral bound. Additional copies will be available though this site while they last.
The Kitchen Dance is my term for the beautiful way home cooks working together manage to pirouette harmoniously around each other as they go about their business. No one ever elbows anyone else out of the way unless something is on fire (unlikely but not impossible). Each dancer somehow knows without words being spoken exactly whose task needs to take priority in the moment, and the others graciously and gracefully cede the space or queue up to be next at the sink or the cutting board or the stove.
It occurred to me, in my ongoing pursuit of lively family history narratives, that there might be a way of doing the kitchen dance not just with my sisters and daughters, but at least figuratively with my ancestors. What better way to connect with them than through their food? Whatever our differences in language or culture, we all have to eat and we all like to eat. So I set out--not exactly to create a cookbook, but to learn what I could about what our forebears ate, what ingredients were available to them, and what tools they used to transform those ingredients into dinner.
The culinary traditions covered are American, French-Canadian, English, Pennsylvania Dutch, and Jewish, weaving together the major strands of my own ancestry. Intended as a gift to family and friends, the booklet will be privately printed and spiral bound. Additional copies will be available though this site while they last.
Looking for something to read right now?
TO THE MOON AND BACK:
Essays on the Life and Times of Project Diana
Essay lovers, click here for more information about my pandemic project, my 2021 book on Project Diana, the Army's successful effort to bounce radio waves off the moon in 1946. I've tried to include something for everyone--not only extensive information on Project Diana but on my father, Scientific Director of the Project Diana team, and on my Jersey Shore childhood. (Don't miss my ukulele, my Toni doll, and my parakeet Archie!)
Essays on the Life and Times of Project Diana
Essay lovers, click here for more information about my pandemic project, my 2021 book on Project Diana, the Army's successful effort to bounce radio waves off the moon in 1946. I've tried to include something for everyone--not only extensive information on Project Diana but on my father, Scientific Director of the Project Diana team, and on my Jersey Shore childhood. (Don't miss my ukulele, my Toni doll, and my parakeet Archie!)